"Bai Shengyi!"
"Dragon Bone!"
Yuan Bingxin and Hua Nishang cried out in unison. Their pupils contracted as they hurried forward, but the soul corpses pressed in like frenzied beasts, relentlessly surrounding them once more.
"Fire Phoenix Soars the Nine Heavens!" Yuan Bingxin changed her sword into a whip, flicking it with agility. Her fire spiritual energy materialized into a majestic phoenix. With a piercing cry, it repelled fifty percent of the soul corpses.
Seeing this, Hua Nishang refused to be outdone.
"Pipa's Call!" The pipa’s melody reverberated ceaselessly, peculiar, beautiful, and mournful. The music transformed into countless sharp arrows, piercing the remaining soul corpses!
The two no longer held back, pouring all their strength into reaching the opening in the barrier that Bai Shengyi had created.
As they were but a step away from the opening, a beam of sword light suddenly erupted, silent, distant, like the vast primordial chaos.
Time Rule!
Sensing the unfathomable and irresistible aura, Yuan Bingxin and Hua Nishang instinctively halted.
In the next moment, the opening in the barrier vanished, silently and subtly sealing shut.
"Bai Shengyi!"
Yuan Bingxin’s voice was sharp. Her fingers tightened around the whip, her hatred so intense she felt she could tear apart the very heavens.
Hua Nishang's expression was also extremely grim, her intent to kill ignited. "Damn it!"
She was certain that the sword light just now had come from Bai Shengyi.
This female cultivator...
Hua Nishang’s expression was heavy with an overwhelming sense of dread. If initially, hearing from Chi Feiyue about Bai Shengyi becoming a Mahayana cultivator had only sparked her jealousy, now her heart was filled entirely with apprehension and foreboding.
Her father had told her that the Great Dao was boundless, while luck and resources were finite. The rise of one person would inevitably mean the plundering of countless others. This meant, if the Divine Revelation Continent nurtured someone like Bai Shengyi, what place would be left for Hua Nishang?
"Junior Sister Bingxin," Hua Nishang said without hesitation, turning to Yuan Bingxin with an intimate tone. "We must get inside. Can you help me hold off those soul corpses while I open the barrier here?"
Yuan Bingxin suppressed her rage and nodded. "Senior Sister Hua, rest assured, I will ensure you have no worries to the rear."
With that, she brandished her whip and turned to charge, lashing out at a nearby soul corpse with boundless fury.
Mo Qingque, whose cultivation was inferior to Yuan Bingxin and Hua Nishang, arrived at this point. Seeing the multitude of soul corpses, he gasped. "Fairy Bingxin, I’ve come to assist you!"
"No need," Yuan Bingxin replied, her face cold. She pointed at him and commanded, "I recall there was a male cultivator accompanying Bai Shengyi inside the palace, correct?"
Mo Qingque nodded.
"Go capture him."
Mo Qingque hesitated for a moment. "Fairy Bingxin, that male cultivator seems to be from the Jing family." He had heard the female disciple from Hua Ling Mountain call that male cultivator "Junior Brother Jing."
"So what if he's from the Jing family?" Yuan Bingxin said coldly. "Even if Jing Lan were here, I would still capture this person! Since he can travel with Bai Shengyi, their relationship must be quite good… Hiss!"
Yuan Bingxin, not paying attention, was scratched by a soul corpse. The pain made her gasp, and her temper grew even more volatile.
She frowned. "Are you going or not?" Her tone held a hint of disappointment and impatience.
Seeing the fairy he admired was angered, Mo Qingque no longer hesitated. He immediately nodded. "I'm going now. Fairy, wait for my good news."
Mo Qingque then returned to the palace. To his surprise, he found no one inside, only several soul corpses wearing familiar clothing. They were Fu Jinghui and several disciples of the Supreme Sect who had died at the hands of soul corpses and then transformed, along with others who had failed to exit the palace!
Mo Qingque's face changed. He immediately prepared to return and inform Yuan Bingxin, but a whistling sound of wind struck him. It felt as if cobwebs, or rather spider silk, had stuck to his face. In an instant, the world spun, and he lost consciousness.
"Little Reincarnation, is this the skeleton of a Qinglong?"
Within the barrier, Bai Shengyi put away her sword and turned to gaze at the magnificent and bizarre spectacle before her.
Her gaze swept across a skeleton of unknown length, about ten zhang wide, sprawling across the ground like rolling, continuous mountain ranges. The white bones stretched endlessly, and the dragon's head was nowhere to be seen. Yet, just a single glance felt like an overwhelming surge of tsunami-like waves crashing against her, forcing Bai Shengyi to her knees with a thud.
"Master!"
Qing Meng Teng and the Reincarnation Brush cried out with concern. The Moon Crescent Cat had long since bristled, hiding in its specialized beast pouch, trembling uncontrollably.
The might of a divine beast, even in death, remained unassailable! Even though Bai Shengyi was now a Mahayana cultivator, before this skeleton, she still felt like a mere speck in the vast ocean, appearing small and insignificant.
"I'm fine," Bai Shengyi said, steadying her mind, biting her lip as she stood up. It was such a simple action, yet it took her a full half-hour. Sweat poured down her face, her complexion pale.
"Shengyi, don't push yourself. If it’s too much, we can break the barrier and leave, returning another time." The Reincarnation Brush was deeply worried about Bai Shengyi's condition. Although its本体 was outside, its spiritual body resided within Bai Shengyi's sea of consciousness, allowing it to clearly perceive that in the past half-hour, Bai Shengyi had completely drained her spiritual energy. Her ability to stand now was merely a testament to her mental fortitude.
However, Bai Shengyi did not feel she was pushing herself. On the contrary, the stronger the pressure, the more her interest piqued.
"Little Reincarnation, do you remember how long it’s been since my breakthrough after entering Mahayana?" Bai Shengyi asked softly, her gaze burning like stars.
The Reincarnation Brush immediately understood.
"Furthermore, since there is a Qinglong skeleton here, I must investigate the whereabouts of the Qinglong scales regardless," she murmured, her heart sinking slightly as she recalled the dense mass of soul corpses earlier.
"This clearly is not a newly formed secret realm, but one that has existed for a long time, merely falling into the Extreme South Wasteland for unknown reasons. If I leave now, who knows when I will encounter it again. Even if I can wait, my mother cannot."
Having said that, Bai Shengyi immersed herself completely in controlling her body. She did not attempt to comprehend the heavenly rules of this place, for she knew that with her current abilities, touching upon ancient rules would be akin to striking a stone with an egg. Thus, she chose to use this oppressive force as her whetstone. Within her sea of consciousness, her divine sense poured forth, twisting into strands of rope, gradually replacing her mental strength, slowly bearing the oppressive weight of the skeleton…
Time ticked by. The Reincarnation Brush and Qing Meng Teng guarded Bai Shengyi closely, not daring to relax for a moment.
"Boss, there’s movement above the barrier!" Qing Meng Teng exclaimed in alarm. "Is it Yuan Bingxin and that Hua Nishang chasing us?"
"Don't panic," the Reincarnation Brush signaled Qing Meng Teng. "I’ll stay here and continue to protect Master. You go set up a trap for them above; it’ll hold them off for a while."
Qing Meng Teng immediately complied. Qing Meng Teng's guess was clearly correct; the movement from the barrier above was growing stronger. The Reincarnation Brush could faintly sense the prelude to the barrier’s shattering. Just as it was hesitating whether to urge Bai Shengyi to leave the area, Bai Shengyi suddenly opened her eyes.
"Crack!"
The barrier shattered, revealing Hua Nishang's cold and stern face.
"Bai Shengyi, you are no more than this." Seeing Bai Shengyi still in the same spot, Hua Nishang breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately leaped through the opening in the barrier.
Bai Shengyi, with Qing Meng Teng and the Reincarnation Brush, said, "Let's go!" She moved like a startled rabbit, her body like drifting clouds as she flew forward, vanishing as a white speck before Hua Nishang's eyes in the blink of an eye.
Simultaneously, Hua Nishang fell to the ground with a "thud," landing prone. Her entire elegant and dignified face… cracked!
"Thud!"
Another sound, and Yuan Bingxin also heavily impacted the ground, falling even harder than Hua Nishang.
"Senior Sister Hua, the pressure here is so heavy, I can’t move. How about you? Can you still chase Bai Shengyi?"
Before Hua Nishang could reply, she saw countless vines rapidly approaching them, transforming into numerous vine whips that lashed out unceremoniously!
"Slap!"
The crisp sound landed on Yuan Bingxin’s backside. Yuan Bingxin’s face turned red with rage, and she cursed fiercely, "Bai Shengyi! You abandoned slave! I will kill you, ahhhhhh!"